Food Dyes and Behavior
FDA advisors recommend more study of food dyes
It's been almost 2 years since we adopted a diet strategy to address Special K's emotional meltdowns. Current research claims the evidence that food dyes and additives contribute to behavioral problems in children is anecdotal, and I suppose for us that would certainly be true, but we really do believe eliminating certain things from her diet has really helped. She occasionally mentions that she doesn't even miss some of her verboten foods. Apparently after eating some off limits foods she would feel "weird".
You may read stories of children, now adults, claiming to have been "victimized" by the Feingold diet. Special K doesn't feel that way. It really has not been that difficult. We've had a fairly easy time finding suitable substitutes for the foods she loved, but should not eat now. We've even found natural food dye and colored sugars and sprinkles that she can use to decorate cookies, cupcakes, and cakes.
You may also read thoughts from mental health professionals pointing out that if we link behavior to diet it undermines children's self esteem by giving them the idea they are unhealthy and fragile or by creating embarrassing situations in which their restricted diet may appear strange by other children. For us, neither situation has been true. Special K's self esteem has actually improved. She knows certain foods make it very difficult for her to control her emotions. If she stays away from them, she has better control and in return she feels better about herself. It's actually important enough to her that she self monitors her diet and chooses to avoid "bad" foods even when I'm not there to help her make that determination. As for feeling embarrassment around other children, she hasn't had that experience because the vast majority of our friends cook all natural and are even more strict when it comes to diet with their own children.
I truly hope the FDA does fair and thorough research on the effects of food dyes on behavior. It will be interesting to see what they really find.
Comments
As for my daughter, we haven't made any changes in her diet as a result of her autism. Most of the dietary changes are trying to work with behavioral issues related to autism and she doesn't have any of the behavioral issues. That and if she saw the rest of the family eating, say, pizza and she doesn't get any, she has no concept as to why and thermo-nuclear toddler meltdowns are something we are trying to avoid in this house :).
Bravo to you for going into this journey with eyes wide open and including your daughter in the solution.
My 10 year old (I believe) is dealing with emotions that seem to be hard to get a handle on. It's been this way for a few years, but this year especially (coupled with hormones) has been tough on the family. I really do believe DIET has something to do with it and I would like to make some changes.